The present disclosure generally relates to hand-held vehicle tools and related methods, and more particularly relates to a hand-holdable vehicle bearing grease applicator and method for applying a predetermined amount of grease to vehicle wheel bearings.
It is sometimes desirable to apply a grease or other lubricant to vehicle wheel bearings. For example, during the manufacture of a vehicle, it is sometimes desirable to apply an amount of grease to a vehicle's front wheel bearings to avoid “stick-slip” noise. Such a noise may occur at the wheel bearing when the vehicle is changed form drive to reverse. In particular, this undesirable noise might result from micro-slip motion of the vehicle's outboard driveshaft joints and inner bearing raceway metal surfaces (i.e., the sticking and slipping of these two surfaces), particularly when torque is applied to the driveshaft causing it to slightly bind up and release back to its normal position.
Hand-held and machine operated grease applicators for applying grease to vehicle wheel bearings are known. Many of the machine-type applicators are expensive and complex. Moreover, machine-type applicators do not always apply a consistent amount of grease and/or prevent contaminants within the grease. The known hand-held applicators are often insufficient for applying a predetermined amount of grease to the wheel bearing and/or can be difficult to use. Additionally, some grease applicators do not limit the application of grease to specified areas of the wheel bearing.